Insight Central Europe News

Poland's new government has won a confidence vote in parliament, but only
thanks to the support of smaller parties which are sceptical of market
reforms and the European Union. The centre-right Law and Justice Party of
Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, has promised to stamp out
corruption and red tape, and to continue Poland's commitment to the US led
coalition in Iraq. After last month's election, the party, which embraces
traditional conservative and Roman Catholic values, failed to strike a
coalition deal, as originally expected, with the pro-business Civic
Platform that came second.

The Czech Agriculture Minister, Petr Zgarba, has resigned over a
controversy around the agency that oversees the sale of state land. He
denied having advance knowledge of the sale of lucrative parcels of land
to speculators, some of whom were associated with the fund. The Prime
Minister, Jiri Paroubek, said he was confident Mr Zgarba had nothing to do
with the sale, but added that he expected the new minister, Social Democrat
member of parliament, Jan Mladek, to prevent such practices occurring in
the future.

Over 3,000 Slovaks joined a protest on Wednesday in Bratislava to denounce
neo-Nazism and all forms of extremism, which have seen seven people killed
in recent years. The rally was in response to the murder last week by
neo-Nazis of a 21-year-old student. The murder sent shock waves through
Slovak society, with celebrities and politicians declaring war on
extremism. The Deputy Prime Minister, responsible for human rights issues,
Pal Csaky, said that he had come to support the idea of zero tolerance for
neo-Nazi crimes.

Hungary has gassed around 200 chickens in a rehearsal of the country's
ability to deal with an outbreak of bird flu. The virus has been detected
in neighbouring Romania and Croatia among migrating flocks. Officials said
that a bird flu outbreak could cost Hungary hundreds of millions of dollars
if it remained unchecked.

The presidents of Slovenia and Croatia have vowed to resolve the dispute
over their shared border on the Adriatic coast as soon as possible. They
agreed that experts from both countries should try to find a solution
acceptable to both sides, and that if they fail, the dispute should be put
in the hands of an international court. The dispute, over a short stretch
of coastline at the northern end of the Adriatic, dates from the time when
both countries broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Vienna's famous Spanish Riding School is to have a new boss. She's Sissy
Max-Theurer, who won a gold medal at the Olympics in Moscow in equestrian
competition. The Riding School has faced financial problems recently and
Ms. Max-Theurer hopes to promote young riding talents and become involved
in the breeding programme of the famous Lipizzan horses used at the
school.